Then they added the DRM Jaffe said they wouldn't... and I became worried.Then they made it mostly online multiplayer focused.... and I became frightened.Now they restricted offline story campaign to 3 characters?... and I gave up.

And people were giving G4 flak for saying many of the same things (solid game with some definite fun, but nothing that moves the series forward from where it's been mired for over a decade). Go figure.

Anyway, as a long time fan of the series there's one thing about this game that really disappoints me: the separation of the driver from the vehicle. I suppose it brings a little more variety to the plate, and means you can expand upon different individual characters more, but I loved the idea where the vehicle was essentially just a physical embodiment of the drivers personality. You know, Axel drove the Axel vehcile because well (in this case especially) it was who he was. It wasn't just "here's a random set of giant wheels because.. well.. you want to drive that, right?"

sidecord:another reason for me to get a PS3 when i have the moneyi loved twisted metal

If you have a PS2 you could honestly just replay Twisted Metal Black and save yourself a few hundred dollars. When I played the demo for this, the first thing I noticed was how weird the control scheme was and had to make adjustments to it.

It just didn't feel like a PS3 game. It felt like I was playing a PS2 port with nicer graphics. I don't know. I was thrilled when I first heard about this game at E3, but I'm passing on it. It didn't feel new enough to me to justify a full purchase.

Figuring out all of the special moves and hairpin turns your car can do takes practice, but I wish Twisted Metal did a better job at teaching new players.

If only there was a built in game mode that gave you specific instructions for each vehicle and let you practice as much as you want on a map with infinite weapons, turbo, and energy. And if only you could access this mode by going to One Player, Training, Live Training.

Figuring out all of the special moves and hairpin turns your car can do takes practice, but I wish Twisted Metal did a better job at teaching new players.

If only there was a built in game mode that gave you specific instructions for each vehicle and let you practice as much as you want on a map with infinite weapons, turbo, and energy. And if only you could access this mode by going to One Player, Training, Live Training.

Oh well. Maybe next time, right?

The Training mode is there, but I'd rather it was integrated with the whole game rather than a separate option. Forcing players who are frustrated to stop playing to kick in to the training mode doesn't smack of good design to me.

StriderShinryu:And people were giving G4 flak for saying many of the same things (solid game with some definite fun, but nothing that moves the series forward from where it's been mired for over a decade). Go figure.

Anyway, as a long time fan of the series there's one thing about this game that really disappoints me: the separation of the driver from the vehicle. I suppose it brings a little more variety to the plate, and means you can expand upon different individual characters more, but I loved the idea where the vehicle was essentially just a physical embodiment of the drivers personality. You know, Axel drove the Axel vehcile because well (in this case especially) it was who he was. It wasn't just "here's a random set of giant wheels because.. well.. you want to drive that, right?"

Really? I thought it was more of the dumbass reviewer. However, the cons were also... a bit unclear. It seemed they were saying the whole point of the game was a con. The Entire game was designed to be "old-school", to which Jaffe admitted to this multiple times. It is like saying that "Hobo with a Shotgun" is terrible because it follows an old Grindhouse formula when it was designed and directed with that one goal in mind. While many will argue, I find it asinine to call that a con.

I do like Greg Tito's Review as it lists the actual faults (Online Connectivity issues, FMVs, Control Layout for Beginners). However their are some issues with the review itself.

Mr. Tito, I have a few questions regarding your review. Firstly, how did it take you 10-15 hours to complete the story-mode? I haven't played a Twisted Metal (or even car combat game) in over... eight years now and yet I still managed to beat the game within seven hours, only because I couldn't get that bloody nuke on the Iron Maiden Boss Fight. How often were you stuck on these levels to indicate a 10 to 15 hour playtime? Or does this also include a couple of MP matches?

Also, not a question, please never compare it to NASCAR. It really isn't a racing game (as indicated by the terrible racing levels).

Figuring out all of the special moves and hairpin turns your car can do takes practice, but I wish Twisted Metal did a better job at teaching new players.

If only there was a built in game mode that gave you specific instructions for each vehicle and let you practice as much as you want on a map with infinite weapons, turbo, and energy. And if only you could access this mode by going to One Player, Training, Live Training.

Oh well. Maybe next time, right?

The Training mode is there, but I'd rather it was integrated with the whole game rather than a separate option. Forcing players who are frustrated to stop playing to kick in to the training mode doesn't smack of good design to me.

Greg

I know that they are different beasts, but detailed tutorials for specific characters works wonders for BlazBlue. A separate mode to hone your skills with a particular character sounds great to me.

what only 3 players to play for story mode?? They got rid of all other other characters like Outlaw, Specter,Club Kid, Alex,Shadow and Roadkill etc... I'm glad they brought back Dollface,Sweettooth and Mr.Grim but I like roadkill(TM:black version) and Specter(TM2,TM3 version) more

Really? Updated with Mario? Brilliant! I can't believe Nintendo has never done such a thing.

- There is a tutorial.

Father Time:the game did have a tutorial, just go to single player, training, and then live training. Wala, tutorial.

- The controls take a minute to get used to, but then again there is a few control sets to try so maybe one is better. I use default and was too used to it to even bother looking at others. The biggest problem isn't the controls, it is the physics. Everything is too light.

- Helicopter aren't hard to figure out at all. I have no idea what the review is talking about. Flying a helicopter in Battlefield 3 is a hundred times harder (and still not that hard if you don't have brain damage).

- Characters: Yeah most of the characters are gone, but the vehicles are still there. So if you drive Kamikaze, the driver will be whichever character you are on in the story, or whoever you pick in a standard deathmatch (you select the driver in non-story matches). Who the hell plays twisted metal for a story anyhow?

- Maps are awesome. The stadium is fun as hell.

- Car customization is a nice idea, as was the sidearm selection.

My biggest problem with this game? Mr. Grimm is now a dreadlock sporting black biker with skull face paint and a lame ass motorcycle. Not only is he no longer some evil spirit or a crazed cannibal war veteran, he also lost the sidecar. Instead he has a chopper stolen from a crappy early 2000's bike building tv show. Way to ruin that character. Pffft.

My biggest problem with this game? Mr. Grimm is now a dreadlock sporting black biker with skull face paint and a lame ass motorcycle. Not only is he no longer some evil spirit or a crazed cannibal war veteran, he also lost the sidecar. Instead he has a chopper stolen from a crappy early 2000's bike building tv show. Way to ruin that character. Pffft.

The original Mr. Grimm wasn't just some evil spirit, he was the Grimm Reaper in the (lack of) flesh. It explains why the next two had to have skull faces.

I've only seen his intro movie, but I like the new Grimm. There's no way him or the cannibal can compete with Death but all 3 of them are pretty cool.

The sidecar seems like an odd thing to care about IMO but for what it's worth the motorcycle is now called Reaper and not Mr. Grimm.

StriderShinryu:Anyway, as a long time fan of the series there's one thing about this game that really disappoints me: the separation of the driver from the vehicle.

This is my complaint as well. Really my only one.

Twisted Metal is my second favorite video game series ever. Hell, it was a huge reason I bought a PS3 on Black Friday. And while I am very, very satisfied with the game, I was kind of peeved that I could play Sweet Tooth in anything besides his ice cream truck. It just didn't feel right.

StriderShinryu:Anyway, as a long time fan of the series there's one thing about this game that really disappoints me: the separation of the driver from the vehicle.

This is my complaint as well. Really my only one.

Twisted Metal is my second favorite video game series ever. Hell, it was a huge reason I bought a PS3 on Black Friday. And while I am very, very satisfied with the game, I was kind of peeved that I could play Sweet Tooth in anything besides his ice cream truck. It just didn't feel right.

I got over that feeling but I still wished that each car had a different driver. When I was playing Black I liked the fact that when I killed Specter in game I knew I had just killed Bloody Mary, when I killed Crazy-8 I knew I had just killed No-Face etc. Even though ever car had the same driver-on-fire model that came out when you killed them it was still nice to know that each car had a specific character inside.

Also knowing the car they chose to drove did add to the characters sometimes.

sidecord:another reason for me to get a PS3 when i have the moneyi loved twisted metal

If you have a PS2 you could honestly just replay Twisted Metal Black and save yourself a few hundred dollars. When I played the demo for this, the first thing I noticed was how weird the control scheme was and had to make adjustments to it.

It just didn't feel like a PS3 game. It felt like I was playing a PS2 port with nicer graphics. I don't know. I was thrilled when I first heard about this game at E3, but I'm passing on it. It didn't feel new enough to me to justify a full purchase.

Black? ... really? you're saying it's better to play black?

First Tito jumps the shark with the idea that the controls are shit and you say play black. it's known as the twisted metal with the steepest controls learning curve!

Tito really failed on this review. The game is fun, the online (which admittedly still has party connectivity issues) is tight and balanced (again when you get in a match) and the story is an improvement to previous styles.

character-vehicle association was not a big deal to drop. the stories relating them to respective vehicles were full of holes anyway.

This is a good game and I hope people interested at least rent it.

I didn't even go into multiplayer options ... whatever. at least check it out

sidecord:another reason for me to get a PS3 when i have the moneyi loved twisted metal

If you have a PS2 you could honestly just replay Twisted Metal Black and save yourself a few hundred dollars. When I played the demo for this, the first thing I noticed was how weird the control scheme was and had to make adjustments to it.

It just didn't feel like a PS3 game. It felt like I was playing a PS2 port with nicer graphics. I don't know. I was thrilled when I first heard about this game at E3, but I'm passing on it. It didn't feel new enough to me to justify a full purchase.

Black? ... really? you're saying it's better to play black?

First Tito jumps the shark with the idea that the controls are shit and you say play black. it's known as the twisted metal with the steepest controls learning curve!

Tito really failed on this review. The game is fun, the online (which admittedly still has party connectivity issues) is tight and balanced (again when you get in a match) and the story is an improvement to previous styles.

character-vehicle association was not a big deal to drop. the stories relating them to respective vehicles were full of holes anyway.

This is a good game and I hope people interested at least rent it.

I didn't even go into multiplayer options ... whatever. at least check it out

Protip: I find that when i use the Quick Online Match option, i get in a game nearly all the time.

So basically Greg ignored the tutorial then played the campaign, sucked for a bit, then went back to the tutorial, didn't pay attention, didn't play the game long enough to learn its deeper nuances and systems and then wrote a review saying how it is frustrating and hard.

Man so many reviewers are so lazy and impatient. Reminds me of when Lost Planet 2 got ripped to shreds when that game is fantastic if you actually bother to try to learn how to play by its rules and its design. Not every game needs to work the same or offer the same amount of hand holding and I'm glad some still exist that do allow the player to figure out things on their own.

Even Egoraptor made some great points about this in his Megaman X Sequalitis thing. Every game can be figured out to its fullest extent simply by playing and paying attention and experimenting, hell most games use to be like this and it was awesome.

I'm not saying that Black was a better game than this new one, I'm simply saying that if the guy doesn't have the PS3, or Twisted Metal, then if he had Twisted Metal Black the experience wouldn't be all that different. LIke I said it's not a bad game, but I certainly don't think it's good enough to warrant a system purchase.

I'm sure a lot of people will find the game fun, but I can see where TIto is coming from by saying it doesn't feel like much has changed since the mid-late 90's. I thought the same thing when I was playing it; it just felt old.

sidecord:another reason for me to get a PS3 when i have the moneyi loved twisted metal

If you have a PS2 you could honestly just replay Twisted Metal Black and save yourself a few hundred dollars. When I played the demo for this, the first thing I noticed was how weird the control scheme was and had to make adjustments to it.

It just didn't feel like a PS3 game. It felt like I was playing a PS2 port with nicer graphics. I don't know. I was thrilled when I first heard about this game at E3, but I'm passing on it. It didn't feel new enough to me to justify a full purchase.

Black? ... really? you're saying it's better to play black?

First Tito jumps the shark with the idea that the controls are shit and you say play black. it's known as the twisted metal with the steepest controls learning curve!

It's definitely this game, the controls take a lot of getting used and I still have trouble remembering how to do some of the less useful things.\

Father Time:the game did have a tutorial, just go to single player, training, and then live training. Wala, tutorial.

I think calling that section a 'tutorial' is a bit of a stretch as it fails miserably in that function, it tells you what the basic button functions are but that's it. Yes you can drive around with unlimited weaponry but it's utterly pointless as you have nothing to shoot at to test with the weapons. The learning curve in the single player is pretty much a brick wall as you're dumped in a game with six others taking chunks out of your car giving you no time to try and get a feel for the level, the controls and the weaponry. Going into the challenge mode first is a better way to start the game as the one vehicle endurance gives you time to get used to the game but I still find the game frustrating, it doesn't seem to want you to play it. I don't know why they bothered with a manual as it's just a waste of paper and the hints and tips seem to refer to the useless default controls.

The only reason I stick with it is because I stupidly bought the game at full price, if I'd been playing the demo I wouldn't have given it a second look and as this is a primarily multiplayer orientated title, that's not good at all. I think the review is one of the more accurate ones (if anything too generous to the game), I could put up with the numerous problems and very lazy port for a £5 PSN title but for a full price PS3 game I think it's a joke.

"there's nothing here to push the medium beyond the 1990s era that spawned the original"

...I don't understand why this is a negative?

Because it's horribly dated and it feels it, some games are timeless in their simplicity but games like this are not and the total lack of any modern innovation and advancement shows really badly. The physics engine is terrible, the controls are awful (when you're actually getting to drive the car which is rare amongst getting constantly rammed off the track or ripped apart by the AI) and the enemy 'AI' is a joke - I put that in brackets because using the term intelligence gives them credibility they don't deserve. The race mode in particular seems to be some sort of sick joke, when I'm the fastest car even the slowest AI car rockets off the start line faster and from then it's a game of how many times can the AI cars shoot you before you get sick of it and power the console down. A lazy port like this would be acceptable as a cheap PSN title but as a full priced Sony published game it's a total embarrassment.

Father Time:the game did have a tutorial, just go to single player, training, and then live training. Wala, tutorial.

I think calling that section a 'tutorial' is a bit of a stretch as it fails miserably in that function, it tells you what the basic button functions are but that's it. Yes you can drive around with unlimited weaponry but it's utterly pointless as you have nothing to shoot at to test with the weapons. The learning curve in the single player is pretty much a brick wall as you're dumped in a game with six others taking chunks out of your car giving you no time to try and get a feel for the level, the controls and the weaponry. Going into the challenge mode first is a better way to start the game as the one vehicle endurance gives you time to get used to the game but I still find the game frustrating, it doesn't seem to want you to play it. I don't know why they bothered with a manual as it's just a waste of paper and the hints and tips seem to refer to the useless default controls.

The only reason I stick with it is because I stupidly bought the game at full price, if I'd been playing the demo I wouldn't have given it a second look and as this is a primarily multiplayer orientated title, that's not good at all. I think the review is one of the more accurate ones (if anything too generous to the game), I could put up with the numerous problems and very lazy port for a £5 PSN title but for a full price PS3 game I think it's a joke.

"there's nothing here to push the medium beyond the 1990s era that spawned the original"

...I don't understand why this is a negative?

Because it's horribly dated and it feels it, some games are timeless in their simplicity but games like this are not and the total lack of any modern innovation and advancement shows really badly. The physics engine is terrible, the controls are awful (when you're actually getting to drive the car which is rare amongst getting constantly rammed off the track or ripped apart by the AI) and the enemy 'AI' is a joke - I put that in brackets because using the term intelligence gives them credibility they don't deserve. The race mode in particular seems to be some sort of sick joke, when I'm the fastest car even the slowest AI car rockets off the start line faster and from then it's a game of how many times can the AI cars shoot you before you get sick of it and power the console down. A lazy port like this would be acceptable as a cheap PSN title but as a full priced Sony published game it's a total embarrassment.

I find it's generally random, sometimes I can get away cleanly but a lot of the time I get bounced around so much from the incoming weaponry that I'm stuffed. I've been told several times the game gets much better the more you play it but I'm finding the complete opposite.